WIDNES chairman Tony Chambers has admitted the Vikings are 'staring relegation in the face'.

Following on from the Vikings' 34-16 loss at Salford last Friday, Wakefield Trinity Wildcats' victory over Bradford on Sunday left Widnes deep in the relegation mire three points adrift of the Wildcats.

There is no keener Widnes fan than club chairman Tony Chambers but he realises his team are close to drinking in the last chance saloon when they face Wakefield at Halton Stadium this Sunday.

"Obviously last weekend was very disappointing," he said..

"Our own result was bad enough and the Wakefield one made it even worse.

"We really have to start winning some games or we are seriously staring relegation in the face, it is as simple as that.

"But I certainly haven't given in yet and it is still in our own hands.

"It is vitally important we do the business this weekend against Wakefield."

At times this season the Vikings have looked much better than their lowly Super League position suggests.

One point losses at Wigan and Hull and a 25-25 draw at Bradford are testimony to that fact.

But with just eight games to go Chambers may well look to dip into the transfer market in a last-ditch attempt to pick up the vital points they need.

He added: "We seem to perform very well against the top teams and just not quite manage to steal a point or two that we probably deserve.

"Then we play against the lower teams and our performance is nothing like the same standard.

"I don't know whether the pressure and the nerves are getting to the team or what.

"We will look to add any recruits we can find that might help the cause at the present time.

"We haven't got anybody secured at the moment but we obviously owe it to ourselves and our fans to scour the earth and come up with people if we can find them."

The fact remains the Vikings are now the bookies favourites for the drop.

And it would be a foolish businessman who didn't make plans should the club be relegated.

"It is not been something we have wanted to think about but having lost to Salford it's something we probably have to.

"As a director of a company that we want to keep going you have to think about contingency plans.

"I still don't really want to think about going down but on the other hand we have to give it some consideration.

"If we did go down we would have to work on the basis we want to come straight back up again.

"An awful lot would depend on the fans and the sponsors and how prepared they were to stick behind us. We would immediately lose £ 800,000 in News Corporation money and it is difficult to imagine keeping up with the 7,000 average crowd we have got at the moment.

"But if you look at Castleford this year they have managed it pretty well and we would look to do the same."

* The Vikings' crucial Super League four-pointer against Wakefield kicks off at 3pm on Sunday at Halton Stadium.